Duplantis broke his world record from February in Clermont-Ferrand, France by one centimeter.
It felt quite bad today and I really wanted to jump the world record. Ah, I pressed so hard. That was all I had in me. I'm extremely glad that I managed it, he says in an interview on innerplan directly after the record.
To SVT, he elaborates:
When I set a world record, it usually feels the same day, after the first jump. But today it felt a bit tougher, it didn't come naturally and it didn't feel good in my legs.
“My greatest goal”
He compares the feeling of breaking a world record at home to his two Olympic gold medals.
It was my greatest goal and my dream to jump a world record at the Stadium. It's like the Olympics and a world record here, it feels just as big. It's magical, he says to SVT,
The world record is the first set by a Swede in Sweden since Patrik Sjöberg's world record in high jump at 2.42 meters on June 30, 1987.
Big hug party
The fact that Duplantis got to do it with loved ones on the stands didn't make things any worse.
It was a big hug party afterwards.
There were so many, it took ten minutes, my two brothers, mother, grandmother, grandfather...it was a few years since they were there, he says with a big smile.
He was asked what it meant that former track and field star Usain Bolt was also on the stands and following the record hunt.
It's quite cool. He said "break the world record so we can party afterwards", so it could be a fun evening, he says.
He was also happy that Andreas Almgren almost immediately after broke the European record.
It's crazy, very special. I have to take a beer with Andreas too, says Duplantis.
